[The Sanctuary] Letting Feathers Fall into Place

[Venya]

Timestamp :: 18th of Fall, 513 AV It was rare for the Inarta raised Konti to want to act differently in order to impress someone. Most of the time she would feel the most confident in just being who she was raised to be. Yet, today she felt the unnatural urge to impress even if that meant toning down what had become her natural attitude that was full of passion and arrogance. She had heard about this place through the labor aid office and knew then that this was where she wanted to be. To work with birds and encourage her skills to grow as learned more about the creatures she has grown to adore and respect. The other creatures around would be interesting to work with as well, if she got to work with or even just see them in action that is. Venya sighed softly, enjoying the air as she continued to walk on the path towards the Sanctuary. The walk had not been something she expected though it did give her some time to think and let her emotions work themselves out. She went from being excited to suddenly nervous to being scared enough to turn and go home. Her fear of rejection would be strong one moment and easy to ignore the next. Mentally and emotionally her mind was out of balance for the time being. The walk helped though. Helped work those fears and anxieties out of her system to allow her to just focus on the good emotions. The excitement and thoughts of succeeding. As Venya reached the steps that would lead her into the building, she paused a chime. Taking in a deep breath she took a tick to look around and gather herself. Seeing the steps and knowing where they led made it all suddenly very real to her. That this was actually happening and she was going to go through with this. Part of her wanted to run up and burst in while the other part wanted to turn back and flee. She wasn’t used to this. The different pulls her mind took her when she wasn’t just basing everything solely on emotions and desires. She took another deep breath, determination setting in her eyes before she briskly took to the stairs. She moved forward, giving herself no choice to turn back or stop and think. She continued climbing the stairs till she came to the top and moved into the clinic that was right in front of her now. She stepped in carefully, looking around to see if anyone was around. She didn’t know much about this place or the people who worked here yet. What she was told basically consisted of the Akalak telling her that the Sanctuary had all kinds of animals, the owner was Kavala and that there might also be a spot for a falconer such as herself. Venya truly did hope that was the case. Even more so now that she was looking around the clinic and seeing a part of the place. One thing she didn’t see however was a person. Her lips pursed slightly before she moved further into what seemed to be a waiting room of sorts. Letting her face's expression return to its neutral state as she tried to see if someone was around. ”Hello?" she called out when she didn’t see anyone, deciding to try and see if someone was in earshot instead.

[Kavala]

The day had been quiet thus far, and for that Kavala was grateful. She was more than tired and sore from looking over clients. There’d been two emergencies that morning, but both had turned out well for the patients. One was a bird with a broken wing, a goose in fact, that had turned out to be an Akalak child’s favorite pet. The setting of the bone and the restructuring of the wing with her gnosis hadn’t been a stretch, but the goose’s attitude had been. She wanted her boy and her squawking had made no secret of the whole thing. Finally, yielding to her demands, Kavala had sent for the child and he’d had to sit up on the worktable with the goose in his lap while Kavala fixed her wing. Kavala had seen no stronger bonding between boy and animal, even in the Dyrkas striders. But it had all made sense when the father had pointed out the boy had hatched the egg and hand fed the gosling from the first moment she’d cracked her shell open. The goose had definitely imprinted on the boy and that was her person. So wherever the boy went, so too did the goose. Kavala wasn’t sure how healthy that would be for the boy when the goose grew older, nor how healthy it would be for the goose when the boy started to roughhouse. He was just about Tasival’s age too, so that point was coming.

Kavala had even let Tasi into the room when she was fixing the boy’s goose up. He’d sat quietly with the boy, asking him questions, and keeping him company while his mother worked on the goose. Kavala was proud of her son for wanting to make a friend and then having been willing to be there to listen to the boy when the boy needed someone his own age to understand. And the boys father, an Akalak named Kuvasit did very well also, letting the boy handle the bird’s injury which was somewhat suspect to begin with. When everyone was patched up, including some mysterious scratches on the boy, and they’d all shuffled out the door, Kavala had gotten a chance to take a break.

Being in the late stages of pregnancy wasn’t all that much fun, and more and more she simply wanted to escape work and flee to the sea. Her soon to be son – for that’s what she decided she was having – was kicking and fussing, making a big deal out of being happy and healthy and wanting out. Kavala couldn’t agree more. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t tired, because she was.

The second injury she had was more serious. A horse came in with a thrown shoe. But when the gelding had thrown the shoe, it had lodged into the distal Phalanx of the forefoot in front of it. The sight had been gruesome, but not nearly as bad as the owner had thought. The shoe was iron, and as soon as Kavala had a chance to sedate the horse enough to get a good look after cleaning the blood away, she could see the shoe had pierced the hoof wall, bisected the coronary band, and had lodged deep in the meat of the inner hoof. It took Aweston and Vanator pulling on it with a pair of forge tongs to get it out. Then Kavala had sterilized the wound, and sealed the bone and hoof back together. The coronary band had sustained some damage, and when Kavala healed it the heal hadn’t been perfect, so she’d cautioned the owners that it might mean the gelding would grow his foot in an odd shape or with discolored hoof walls there. The band was were the hoof grew from and if it was damaged it often grew out a bit more damaged. She reassured them that this wouldn’t cause him any lasting harm, and then had brought him out of sedation.

The gelding had pinwheeled his feet, shorted and got to all fours easily enough. Then he took one look at his healed foot, snorted at Kavala in what she really truly thought was a thank you, and promptly was ready to go back to town to visit the farrier and get a new shoe affixed.

Both jobs had been paying customers and so Kavala was all but cleaning up for the day hoping they’d get no more clients. If she didn’t put a second healer on soon, the Konti didn’t know what she was going to do. Life was too busy around The Sanctuary for one very pregnant Konti to keep up with.

So when the Konti came through the doors, opening them wide, and calling a hello, the Healer groaned. Sometimes work never ended, especially when a healer was tired, hungry, or both.

Kavala peeked around a partition, walked down the hall to the waiting room, and while wiping her hands on a towel, greeted the Konti. “Hi there. I’m Kavala, one of the healers around here. Is there something I can do for you?” She asked, looking like what she hoped was friendly and forward. Kavala studied the girl for a moment and noted there was no animal with her. She didn’t look like she’d ridden in and as far as he could tell there was no blood or sign of trauma on her. Kavala decided the new Konti looked to be about her own age and seemed somewhat quiet because she wasn’t talking to the thin air and wasn’t busy interrupting Kavala’s greeting with an urgent message. Both were good signs. But what Kavala really liked about the girl was her look. She looked tough, like she could handle things, and there was a certain edge to her that looked as if the Konti had been traveling. Both were great signs to Kavala.

“Tell me you don’t have an emergency for the day. I’m starving, just got done cleaning up after my last patient, and was about to go get a bite to eat. If’ its not urgent, you can join me, eh?” Kavala said, stroking her elongated stomach and leaning against the wall as if she simply didn’t want to stand up anymore.

[Venya]

While the Konti didn’t have to wait long for her hello to be answered, it was long enough. Long enough for her nerves to set back in. Leaving sounded like a good idea. Not trying seemed better than trying and failing. Her stubborn side wouldn’t let Venya do it though. She fought with herself mentally. Trying to convince herself on why she should go and being unable to. It was hard to find that stupid, insane courage that all the Inarta seemed to have so natural inside of them. She was never the best at acting on that courage even when she was among the fiery people of Wind Reach. Better than her sister was, but not by much. To much of her mother’s side of the family inside her. Venya fought against herself till it was to late. There was soon a very pregnant Konti in front of her, introducing herself. Venya looked at Kavala as she spoke. Her voice was friendly enough. Not as much as it probably could have been, but enough to not make Venya want to shy away anymore than she did ticks ago. Venya didn’t speak right away when Kavala finishes. Words would not come to her as she was looking over the healer. She didn’t look to much older than Venya herself. White hair, pale skin, swirling scales, stunning blue eyes. Nothing less than one would expect of another Konti. The biggest difference that Venya could tell right off hand between the two of them was the enlarged stomach of the Healer. Another being inside of her was something Venya did not have. Nor was it something she wanted currently in her life. Not something she was ready for. In her mind anyway. Venya smiled softly when Kavala finished speaking for the second time, just now noticing that she never did reply to the woman’s first question. ”Nice to meet you Kavala, I’m Venya and I do not have an emergency. Nor anything that couldn’t be talked over something to eat,” she assured the Healer before nodding and giving a bit brighter of a smile, ”I would love to join you.” Eating was definitely something she could do after her two mile walk and the short climb up the stairs. It wasn’t even that the walk itself was all that tiring. More like the internal debating with herself to continue on or turn around. Oh well, didn’t matter now. The nerves didn’t leave, but they were easier to push away now. Her confidence was a little easier to find. Looking to Kavala with her own blue purple colored eyes, Venya gnawed the inside flesh of her bottom lip softly. Maybe her nerves weren’t so easy to push away. Clearing her throat, she snapped herself back into it with a quick and slight nod. She waited for the Konti to lead, not knowing her way around this place. She hoped that was obvious. She felt like it would be silly to point out. Since she had a hard time with first impressions and figuring out how to act during them though, she wasn’t sure. Her sister was always better at this stuff. The gentle speaking, knowing what to say. Breaking all the tension and getting rid of the nerves. Venya wondered if she ever felt like this. Shaking the family member from her mind, she waited for Kavala’s reaction. Hoping her nerves weren’t as obvious as she felt them. That didn’t seem like a good thing to show a hopefully future employer.

[Kavala]

If Venya was a horse, Kavala would have picked up on the nerves immediately and set to work soothing her. But the Konti was blind to the emotions of people in general, and tended to be more social to animals and because of her gift way more sensitive to them. “Have you got a name?” She asked, carefully, pulling off a bloody apron and hanging it on a peg. She stripped off an over sized shirt then and hung it on the clinic rack as well, having been wearing a tunic underneath. The tunic looked like a worn man’s garb, colored and styled for one, but it fit over her stomach and that’s all that mattered to the Konti.

“It’s this way.” Kavala said, leading the Konti through the clinic and to a small door that opened to a stairwell. They walked down the stairs together, slowly for the pregnant Konti wasn’t moving fast, and then through what looked like a huge underground laboratory. They passed through it’s immaculate cleanness and out into a hallway. They turned right and walked down a stone hallway within stone walls. From the corridor, they passed through a large library and study to walk a small narrow corridor. That corridor lead to a huge common room that resembled more like a tavern great room than anything else. Attached to the great room was a kitchen that looked well stocked. The konti gestured to a chair at the counter that looked more like a bar than anything else, and slipped behind it into the kitchen area to rummage for food.

“What do you like to eat?” The Healer asked, curious about the Konti and her state of being.

The Healer was assembling a wild platter of dried fish, seaweed, and what appeared to be fresh clams that were still very much alive. “I’ve been on a strange diet since I got pregnant. I can’t stomach much land food these days. Sorry if this looks a little out there. I won’t make you eat it. But if I eat anything looking normal, I wont’ be able to keep it down… and that’s painful these days.” The Konti said, already beginning to nibble selections off the tray as she sat another empty tray up on the counter and began to fill it for the new Konti.

Kavala added sliced bread, sliced cheese, and several varieties of sliced meat still cold from an insulated iron box that held a block of ice that was slowly melting. There was fresh milk poured into a glass and added to the selection along with a couple of ramekin’s filled with spreads that could be used as sandwich spread.

Kavala handed the Konti a plate, complete with knife and fork, and took her own. She had a seat at the counter across from the girl. “So… what brings you here?” Kavala asked, curious. She gestured to the platter and smiled. “Make yourself a sandwich or two.” The pregnant Konti said softly, watching the girl curiously.

[Venya]

”Venya,” the Konti replied as she watched Kavala pull off the bloody apron. She was sure she spoke of her name before the question was asked, but possibly not. That or Kavala hadn’t heard her. Shaking it off, Venya nodded as the Healer began to lead her to where lunch would be. Venya followed the pregnant Konti, not minding the slower pace down the stairs. It kept her focused on making sure not to move to fast and step on Kavala’s heels or press her forward by accident. She staid two or so steps behind her so give plenty of room. The focus helped with keeping the more nervous thoughts that came from over thinking everything from pooling in her head. As they moved from the stairs to the laboratory, Venya to a slight pause to look around. The main thing that stood out to her was how clean the room was. It was hard to imagine it much cleaner. Biting back a awestruck comment, the Konti continued to follow Kavala towards the stone hall. Venya let her eyes wander around as they walked through the hall. Having no real place to place them. She was surprised when they had to go through a library to get to the corridor that led to the large room with the kitchen off of it. Not what she expected. Though none of it was. This place was a lot bigger already than she had originally expected. While she isn’t quite sure of what she did even suspect originally, it wasn’t this. This was better. That much was certain. ”Depends, I am not all that picky. I will eat what I am given as long as it is edible,” Venya answered as she slide up into the chair she was motioned to take. The Konti peered over the counter top and watched as Kavala assembled a tray for herself. Food from the sea. At first she is confused, but once the Healer explained Venya’s mouth opened slightly as a small “ah” escaped. ”I see. While it does look a bit out there. I can understand picking food from the sea over land food if you have such a reaction to land food while carrying another within you,” she commented, watching as a second plate was brought out, ”No one wants to go through any sort of pain if it can be avoided. Especially if the solution is as simple as changing food choices for an amount of time.” She cringed as she finished speaking. The words sounded more like a ramble more than anything. In her mind at least. Venya looked to the plate now set before her. Bread, cheese, meat, spreads. Everything one needs to make a perfectly good sandwich. The Konti smiled softly about to give her thanks when Kavala asked a question. The question she had been both wanting and dreading since she left her home that morning. Sighing softly, Venya took one of the pieces of bread and followed Kavala’s instructions to make herself a sandwich. ”Well, I came because I am looking for work and I heard that there might be a place for me here,” she started as she looked from the beginnings of her sandwich to the Konti and back again. She picked up a piece of dark colored meat and a piece of the cheese, laying it down on the first piece of bread. As she takes a second piece of bread, she begins to speak again. ”I am really looking to become a falconer mainly. I was raised in Wind Reach and around the birds there, making me grow a love for birds. Raptors especially.” Venya took a bite of her sandwich before glancing up to Kavala. She chewed before swallowing and picking up the glass of milk. After taking a drink, she returned to what she was saying. ”I was born with the Gnosis of Rak’keli as well, so I would not be opposed on working with that as well. Though I barely know anything about medicine outside of using the Gnosis, I am always willing to learn,” Venya paused there, taking another bite as she kept her eyes on the pregnant Konti before her. What would she say?

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded, looking thoughtful as she snacked on her plate. The Konti studied the girl, curious, listening closely. She hadn't been surprised that she'd missed the girl's name the first time around. Even being multilingual, Kavala occasionally missed a word spoken in common or pavi or even tukant. I'm Venya could have been tired, sore, curious... anything. But it had been the girls name. That explained it.

"I'm sorry I missed your name the first time around. There's usually a great deal going on around here. A Falconer huh? We have a resident one, Chalce, also of Wind Reach. She came when her twin which was an endal died in a flight accident. She minds our birds, but she has no aptitude or desire for healing. And she certainly isn't marked by Rak'keli. I'm sure she would enjoy taking an apprentice, especially one that could be cross trained in medicine specializing in the birds." Kavala said, throwing out that possibility to see if hte girl was remotely interested. "We get clients that have sick birds sometimes... pets, farm stock, multiple situations. Would you be willing to train in something like that?" Kavala said, curious to wonder the extent of the girl's ambition.

"And tell me... a bit about yourself. You said you were from Wind Reach. Why did you leave? It seems such a far off place to be from. And what brought you to Riverfall... are you on Call?" The Konti asked, curious. She would ask Venya more questions, but not until she knew more about her which in turn would generate more questions.

While Venya answered, Kavala quietly tore into her food, indeed hungry after her busy morning full of emergencies.

[Venya]

Venya listened to the words coming from Kavala’s mouth as she slowly ate away at her food. She wasn’t all that interested in food anymore. Much more consumed with what she was being told and asked. Yet, she didn’t want to be impolite and eating gave her something to do with her hands and mouth as the pregnant Konti spoke. The idea of being trained in medicine specializing in birds was one that brought a faint smile to Venya’s lips. She looked up at the girl before her for a tick, interested in the thoughts set before her. "Yes, I would," she answered simply, her voice not showing much emotion but her eyes betray her. The sparkle of excitement showed clearly in them. "Very much so," emotion seeped into her voice a little more as her smile grew. Working with birds in a medical aspect wasn’t really something she had thought much about before now. As the idea was being laid out before her and the question asked however, she began to really think about it. The more she did so, the more she grew to like it. This way she would be working with not only raptors and training them, but all sorts of different birds with a variety of different things. At least, that is what it sounded like. Venya took a bite of her sandwich as Kavala asked to hear about her. Not an unreasonable request, just one the Konti had to think about how to answer. She put what was left of the sandwich down before letting her smile fade slightly. She really did not want to speak of her whole story. Not if it could be avoided anyway. "It is a far to come from," she agreed, thinking of how to proceed as she stared down at her plate of food. "In short, I am looking for a fresh start. I left Wind Reach in chase of my sister and after finding she no longer wanted me around, that she was perfectly happy without me and settled into her new life among the Drykas people I found myself here." That was short and sweet, not bringing up her emotions to much. Lately, whenever she spoke of her sister it stirred a bitterness up inside her. She had not yet forgiven the Konti. Nor did she plan on doing so anytime soon. Venya bit her lip slightly before remembering the last question the pregnant Konti asked. Shaking her head, she leaned forward slightly to grab her milk. She lifted the glass to her lips and took a drink before setting it down and shaking her head. "No, as far as I know I am not on call," she answered, relaxing back into her seat. She was calmer now, nerves no longer pulling her stomach into a tight knot. It felt good not to be so nervous, just being comfortable and settling into more of her normal self. The nerves only present enough to keep her on edge enough to want to make a good impression. While she wasn’t sure she was actually succeeding at that, she was trying. That much she knew.

[Kavala]

"You would know if you were on Call. It hits you hard and deep and you just pick up everything and answer it. I wonder if that's why your sister left. A great many Konti that I know of have had Calls among the Sea of Grass including my mother. My Call is here and thinking of leaving it is physically painful at times. Nonetheless, it's important to remember where we came from and why... our future we get to choose until it chooses us. That is the nature of the Konti as a people." Kavala said softly, a smile on her face as she ate.

She didn't want to dive too deeply into the reasons why Venya was here. Her explanation was enough to seem to the Konti Healer that asking more questions would cause the other Konti a great deal of pain or at least open wounds best left closed. So instead she simply finished her meal, studying the girl and wondering what she was like outside of the nerves of the interview and of being in a strange place among strangers.

"My brother, Vanator, handles some of the physical training here as well." Kavala suddenly piped in. She offered a smile as she popped another clam into her mouth. "We require our employees to go through a rigorous physical training so that they can well defend themselves. You'll have to train in a weapon and learn self defense. Vanator needs to take you under hand and evaluate you in any weapon skill you might have and then work on training you up a bit with it and make sure you have proper weapons and armor for the weapon of your choice." Kavala added, wondering if this was going to be a problem for Venya.

"This is a good idea because you'll be out in the field with Raptors... working them, training them, getting them healed through exercise to build up their strength. You can't always take guards with you... we have night lions, glassbeaks, yukman, and even zith." Kavala went on listing the dangers. "And then there's farm calls with the road in between. We'll have you working on your riding skills and horsemanship too. Are any of these things a problem?" Kavala asked, curious as to how the young woman felt about being multiple disciplined as a healer.

[Venya]

Venya didn’t really know what to say, so she simply listened to Kavala. The way she explained the call, her soft voice and the smile on her lips. It fascinated Venya, who continued to pick away at her food. She listened closely, nodding softly before shrugging when it was brought up that the call could be the reason her sister left for the Sea of Grass. Venya doesn’t actually know the reason behind her sister’s leaving. She was never told. Course, she never learnt much about the call either. Just what her mother told her long ago that faded into a foggy memory. It was probably one of those things her sister payed more attention to and longed for instead of Venya. The Konti listened now though, something about the way Kavala explained it. With such fondness and knowledge. It was captivating. Her sandwich finished now, Venya slowly ate of the variation of food on her plate. Just picking off bits and pieces here and there. Not really hungry anymore. Just mindless eating to keep herself doing something. Her blue violet eyes glance up to Kavala when the Healer begins speaking of training in self defense and weapons. “I haven’t done a lot of weapons training in the past. But I am not opposed to learning. Self defense is always something good to know,” she comments once Kavala has finished explaining, “Especially when there is no one else around you can rely on.” She lifts her glass and takes another drink before letting it rest back down. Venya shakes her head. “No, I am not opposed to learning any of these things,” she says simply, “I want to learn and know how to do different things. So in fact, I am probably more eager than anything.” She gives a soft smile, taking a piece of cheese and popping it into her mouth. The Konti was excited now. She wanted this. To become diverse in her talents and abilities. This wasn’t what she had planned or expected. No, this was better.

[Kavala]

Kavala watched the girl. Like so many Konti, Venya either was quiet or afraid to speak out. Maybe she truly had no questions and maybe she had nothing else she wanted to ask. But Kavala wondered if that was because nothing else occurred to her or because she was shy and reserved. The shyness didn’t make sense, not in the face of the fact Kavala herself was a Konti. If Venya was raised on the white isle then she would be used to be surrounded by her sisters. Healers needed… something else. They needed a way to step forward, take initiative, be bold in their frankness and in their abilities.

“That’s a good philosophy to have. Its never a good idea to go out alone, but sometimes we must. It’s better by far to know you can protect yourself than be scared at every jumping shadow. I will leave it up to you to seek out my brother Vanator, introduce yourself, and ask him to evaluate you for self defense and weapons trainings. He’ll provide you with weapons and a set schedule for learning about them. He might even train you himself. You can’t miss him. He’s a tall brooding blonde human that always looks slightly overly worried. He’s the Ankal of The Denusk Pavilion and he’s in charge of the weapons, arms, and training here. You’ll need to have a long talk with him about your history and what you want to accomplish in terms of your safety. I charge you to seek him.. don’t wait for him to come to you. And next season I expect you to be on a regular training regime. In a season or two your body and your confidence will thank me.” Kavala said.

Kavala continued to talk to Venya until they finished their meal. At that point Kavala hopped off her stool and lead Venya on a tour of the underground. She showed her the suites, where everyone lived, and assigned her a room of her own. She showed her the laboratories, isolation lab, more quest quarters, the training area, the sacred circle, and even the small prison where they could keep tprisoners. Then she took her back upstairs and gave her a tour of the facility there. Kavala explained where all the animals lived, the differences between the boarding barn, the broodmare barn, and the stallion barn. She passed by the kennels and the cattery and showed off the chickens and mews.

“Do you have any other questions, Venya?” Kavala asked finally, not certain what was going on in the woman’s head.